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Career Services at UCSD and the Department of Political Science

UCSD and the Department of Political Science offer various resources to support graduate students at any stage of their career development. On this page, you will find a list of existing resources for academic and non-academic careers.

Career Services at the Department

  • Placement Director: Gareth Nellis gnellis@ucsd.edu
  • Individual advising with faculty mentors, the DGS, or the graduate coordinator.
  • Professional development seminars within the Integrated Workshop, including seminars on the academic and non-academic job market.
  • Academic and non-academic job market advice documents (reach out to the DGS for information).
  • Access to our network of PhD alumni in non-academic jobs through the Political Science Department’s Graduate Career Council

Graduate Career Council

The Department of Political Science Graduate Career Council connects current and former Ph.D. students to provide a forum for networking and non-academic career development for students and alumni of the department. The Council members are all UCSD political science alumni with careers outside of academia. 

If you are a current graduate student or Ph.D. alumni and would like to get in contact with members of the Council, please contact the graduate coordinator or Director of Graduate Studies.

Services at the UCSD Career Center

The Career Center has an office dedicated to support career development of Ph.D. students under the leadership of Giulia Hoffmann. The Center offers professional development, workshops, program, and individual career advising. The staff is equipped to help you with:

  • Discovering your career options and interests
  • Creating a plan to achieve your career goals
  • Writing and refining application materials for both academic and non-academic jobs
  • Learning how to connect and network with professionals in your intended field
  • Meeting employers from top companies
  • Mastering interview and job talk strategies
  • Negotiating internship and job offers.

The Career Center offers a number of valuable resources:

  • Sign up for Handshake, which is the Center’s one-stop career management system – you can use it for everything from searching for jobs and internships to scheduling individual career coaching appointments to connecting with employers, and more. To make the navigation of this system easy, their team has created a 5 minute video to guide you through Handshake and what it has to offer for grad students; you can access it here.
  • Get up-to-date information about events, resources and job/internship postings by signing up for the Career Center’s mailing list here.
  • Join the Center’s monthly Grad Student Lunch & Learns. October’s Lunch and Learn features tips from an employer about how to create and maintain a professional network to succeed in your career planning and job searches (additional events for grad students will be posted on Handshake).
  • Check out their Academic and Career Planning Tool (ImaginePhD.com)

Contact the Career Center via email: gradcareers@ucsd.edu.

Career Services at the Graduate Division

The Graduate Division provides career advice on its grAdvantage platform. grAdvantage offers:

  • Access to UC San Diego Extension Specialized Certificate in Leadership & Teamwork to develop your leadership, teamwork and project management skills.
  • Professional development workshops on “Communicating Your Research” or “Questioning Career: Designing Your Life”.
  • Quarterly career nights featuring alumni panels and networking time with a focus on building professional connections.
  • Informational videos with career advice.
Sign up here for more information on upcoming workshops.